Before Prime Minister Narendra announced the 21-day lockdown on 24 March springing a surprise on the daily-wage worker, who was now left with two choices – either to remain destitute in the city for that period or walk hundreds of kilometres to their homes – three buses had arrived in Malda, West Bengal with daily-wage labourers who had been working in Kerala. Their employer, Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), had booked the buses to take the labourers back to their homes. The COVID-19 cases were rising in Kerala and worksites were closing. That’s when a few of the 2500 ‘guest workers’ employed by ULCCS said they would like to return home. The trains were full, so the cooperative arranged the buses. The others stayed back in Kerala in the accommodation provided by ULCCS, which also provides them with free food.